


Discovery

by captainkatieb



Series: The Tumblr Ficlets [4]
Category: Actor RPF, Star Trek RPF
Genre: Birthday, Established Relationship, M/M, Secret Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-05
Updated: 2016-09-05
Packaged: 2018-08-13 04:40:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,271
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7962823
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/captainkatieb/pseuds/captainkatieb
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>discovery<br/>dɪˈskʌv(ə)ri<br/>noun</p><p>1.<br/>the action or process of discovering or being discovered.<br/>"the discovery of the body"<br/>synonyms:	finding, locating, location, uncovering, unearthing More</p>
            </blockquote>





	Discovery

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to [Lovespie]() for the beta read on this one. Inspired by the idea of 'what if'. This fits into the 'You're On My Road' timeline but it is not necessary to have read that story to understand this one.

It’s quiet when Chris wakes. It must be early, there’s no noise from outside bleeding through to disturb the bubble created inside. A glance at the clock on the bedside table shows it’s still before 4 a.m. The sun wouldn’t even be rising. Chris smiles softly to himself, content. He’s 36 now. Has been for 28 hours. He is surprised at how this time round, he’s okay with turning older. The fears he's had each birthday for the last few years aren’t clouding his mind with the anxiety of time running out.

The bed shifts as Zach inches closer to Chris and wraps an arm around Chris’ waist, tugging slightly. Chris doesn’t think Zach is awake, more that it’s an instinctive reaction. Zach has always been one to hold Chris tight when they sleep, like he can’t give Chris an opportunity to slip away. If only Zach would believe Chris when he says that he isn’t going anywhere. Chris wedges his fingers in-between Zach’s and closes his eyes again, sinking into the warmth at his back.

Sleep doesn’t come back to Chris easily, despite how relaxed he is feeling. He wants to remember the previous evening, to make sure it’s imprinted on his brain. He forwent a large celebration this year and instead had dinner at his favourite Italian restaurant with a few close friends. There is a special beauty in spending time with a group of people who are comfortable in each other’s presence, who don’t need to try to make conversation flow. It had been a perfect end to a relaxed day. He had spoken to his parents earlier in the day; Katie had popped past for a late brunch. He received so many phone calls that he had been feeling well and truly loved.

As birthdays go, he’s had a lot worse.

The next time Chris wakes he knows it must be closer to morning. Zach’s rolled over sometime in his sleep and the covers are pulled back. There’s sunlight flowing in around the curtains, there’s dim noise happening from the streets outside. Chris stretches, sore in delightful ways.

Zach doesn't stir as Chris climbs out of bed and heads into the bathroom. After he’s taken care of himself, he throws on a pair of sleep pants and heads to the kitchen. There’s yogurt which thankfully hasn’t gone off yet and he dishes out a bowlful, adding some slices of banana and muesli to the top. He flicks the coffee machine on and goes off in search of his phone while he waits for it to heat up.

Tracking down his phone becomes a mission that he didn’t expect. It’s not in the pocket of his jacket that was strewn across the back of the sofa. It’s not in the pocket of his jeans from the night before, that had somehow ended up half inside the open door of the study. It isn’t until he finds Zach’s jacket and digs around in there that he finds it. He vaguely remembers Zach taking it off him at some point in the night, but doesn’t quite remember why. He shrugs, figuring it wasn’t important.

Heading back to the kitchen, he switches it back on and puts it down. He’s partway through making coffee when it finally re-connects to the network, screen lighting up with…29 notifications of messages and missed calls. Distracted, Chris picks it up while simultaneously trying to switch off the machine. He figures some of them are left over birthday messages which he will get around to replying to at some stage. The screen lights up with another incoming call and Chris hits the accept button.

“Hey, Katie, this is early for you,” Chris says, chuckling as he tucks the phone in between his ear and shoulder to free up his hands to finish making coffee.

“Would have thought it' early for you too,” Katie replies, tone light.

“Couldn’t sleep anymore. Also, hungry.”

“Seriously? Did you not eat enough yesterday?”

“Apparently not. Zach’s still asleep though,” Chris replies.

There was a pause on the other end.

“He…stayed over?”

“Yeah, ‘course. He’s not heading back to New York for a few more days.”

“Oh.”

There’s hesitation in Katie’s tone, and Chris isn’t sure why. Katie has known about them since they become a them. Chris couldn’t have hidden anything from her, even if he wanted too. Zach hasn’t stayed anywhere else but Chris’ place since he officially moved to New York.

Chris places his cup down and leans against the counter, taking the phone and switching ears.

“Okay, something’s up. What is it?” he asks.

“Have you checked any of your other voicemails yet?”

“No? I literally called you back when I had seen the seven missed calls. I figured something had happened to Mom and Dad.”

“I think…you might want to go and open your email.”

“My email?” Chris repeats.

Why would he need to go and open that now? He’s officially on a few weeks off and had planned on pretty much ignoring his computer unless absolutely necessary. There’s a feeling of concern growing in his chest, unsure at where this is heading.

“Yeah, trust me on this one.”

“Right. Okay. Give me a minute.”

Chris pushes off from the kitchen counter and heads towards the study. He hits the spacebar to wake up his laptop, before navigating to his email one handed. There’s a series of unread messages, all from Katie and his manager, but there’s one with OPEN THIS ONE FIRST in the subject lines.

“I’m assuming I’m to click on the one that says ‘open me first’?” Chris asks.

“Yeah, that’s probably the best place to start.”

“Okay. What am I even looking at here? There’s a series…of links to news outlets…what is so important about it?”

“Open the attachment, Chris.”

It’s a picture link he realises. What picture could be so important that he warranted multiple phone calls and emails?

Once it loads, Chris realises why.

The picture is blurry and not entirely clear, but there’s no mistaking who it is. That, teamed up with other photos of them earlier in the evening, will be enough for anyone to make the leap. It’s Zach pushing Chris up against a wall, Chris’ hands in Zach’s hair while his own head is tipped backwards, Zach biting into his neck; It's obvious exactly what had been going on between them.

“Chris? You still there?”

“Yeah—” he breaks off, coughing to clear his throat. “Yeah. Shit.”

“Chris?”

“I….I. Okay. Fuck.”

Chris sits down in his office chair, blinking. It was a heated moment as they were walking back to Chris’ car. No one had been around, or so he had thought. Panic threatens to overtake his thoughts. They hadn’t planned for this, not once was this ever part of an imagined scenario. They had been so careful for so long. Dimly, he’s aware of the shallow gasps he’s taking. He hangs up the phone and drops it onto the desk before bracing his head in his hands, elbows on his knees. Shit, shit, shit. How can any good come of this? Sure, they had spoken of it, but that was a strategic plan, interviews with the right people, timing it between films to let the media die down, to not draw attention. They don't have a choice anymore.

He needs to tell Zach.

Standing, Chris runs his hands through his hair. He wonders how he looks, if the anxiety he is feeling is written on his face. There’s no point trying to hide anything from Zach, he’ll know straight away that something is wrong.

Chris takes the laptop with him, keeping it at the screen as he pushes the door to the bedroom back open. There’s a moment when he steps inside the room that he doesn’t want to disturb Zach just yet. There’s a patch of sunlight streaming across Zach’s back, and his hair is ruffled from sleep. The way he’s curled around Chris’ pillow is frankly adorable and if it were any other moment, Chris would probably take a photo of it.

Instead, Chris takes a deep breath and places the laptop down on the bed before reaching a hand out to run through Zach’s hair before reaching down to touch his shoulder lightly. Zach stirs, his head turning towards where Chris is standing. Chris leans down and presses a kiss to Zach’s temple.

“Zach,” he says gently.

Zach blinks, opening his eyes slowly.

“Christopher?” Zach asks, voice husky from sleep.

“Hey, baby,” Chris replies, hoping his voice sounds close to normal.

Zach stretches, turning over to sit up slightly. He rubs at his eyes briefly before looking up at Chris. Immediately, his eyes narrow and roam over Chris’ face.

“Okay, what happened?”

“Uhhh…”

“Pine. What’s going on?”

“It’s…easier if I show you.”

Chris picked up the laptop and hands it to Zach. He turns away, not wanting to watch as Zach discovers it. He sits on the edge of the bed and waits.

There are a few clicks of the keyboard behind him and he closes his eyes, taking in a deep breath. He hears the laptop being put aside, then suddenly Zach is there, arms wrapping around Chris’ shoulders, knees coming to rest on either side of Chris’ hips.

“I’m sorry,” Zach breathes.

Chris stiffens for a moment.

“No, there’s not….you don’t…”

“Yeah, I do. I pulled you into that alley. I should have known better.”

Shaking his head, Chris reaches up to lace his fingers through one of Zach’s hands, leaning back into him.

“No, no. I could have stopped you, I didn’t.”

“Okay, so it’s both of our faults.”

“Zach…please don’t do this,” Chris says, voice cracking slightly. “It’s happened. That’s it.”

The silence between them stretches out into minutes, both not wanting to say anything. There is nothing to say, really. He knows they will have to go into damage control soon. Statements will need to be released, interviews given. The holiday that he is hoping to enjoy and relax would be taken over by avoiding the paps and being asked about his change in relationship, let alone the change in his perceived sexuality. There will be meetings with Paramount, with his lawyers, his management team. Friends, family, everyone will now have an opinion and will think they can give it. He’s seen it all before.

There is no point trying to publicly deny it.

And, despite it all, Chris found that he didn’t want to. Sure, the timing isn't the best and there will be hell to pay legally and professionally, but it isn't a bad thing. He knows who he is, and he isn't ashamed of that.

He feels Zach shift behind him and turns into him, moving back on the bed so they are sitting opposite each other, legs crossed. Zach’s still holding his hand, face carefully blank and unreadable.

“Would…is it a bad thing, that it’s come out? That people know?” Zach asks carefully.

The hesitation in that sentence knocks Chris back. He’d only been thinking about himself, he hadn’t stopped and thought about Zach, about how Zach would feel about Chris freaking out. How could he be so selfish to not see that Zach is scared that he’ll lose Chris over this, that Chris will decide it’s not worth it and that he can’t do it anymore.

“Not a bad thing, Zachary. I’m not ashamed of you, of this, of us. That could never be a bad thing, just…fuck the timing could have been better.”

Zach snorts.

Just like that, the tension that is in the room vanishes. Zach is grinning wide as his free hand comes up to cover his mouth.

“I’m, shit sorry, none of this is funny, but oh my god,” Zach eventually gets out between burst of laughter, his eyes shining.

Chris rolls his eyes fondly, a small smile on his face.

“You asshole. You fucking asshole.”

Zach just laughs harder. “Of all the ways…of all the speculation…we fucking confirmed it by necking in an alleyway…cause you were wearing those damn pants again which does wonders for your ass…”

“Why do I put up with you, Quinto?”

Zach leans forward and tugs Chris forward to kiss him.

“Because we can now do that in public without having to worry any more.”

Chris returns the kiss, smiling into it before drawing back.

“Yeah, okay. Valid point made,” he says. “In all seriousness though, what are we going to do?”

Zach sobers up immediately at that, tugging his shirt into place.

“Oh yeah, the whole ‘you’re not gay’ thing. Yeah, could be a problem.”

“Zachary.”

“Right, serious conversation. Who have you spoken to so far?”

“Just Katie. She called me and told me to check my emails,” Chris replies.

“Okay. I’ve done this before, there’s ways to approach it. Let me have a shower, I’ll call Joe and give him the heads up, then we can get our teams down here. I know it’s not the way you want to be spending the day after your birthday, but it’s easier to have a plan in place as soon as possible. We can order breakfast in.”

This, this is why Chris loves Zach. He can immediately see what Chris needs and gives it to him. He reassures him in his own brisk way that everything will be okay. Yes, it’s outside of what they had planned, but that’s okay. It’s just another day to get through, and they will get through it the same way they always have, together.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm always up for chatting over on my [tumblr]().


End file.
